Iris West-Allen
Iris Ann West-Allen (born June 24, 1989) is the leader of Team Flash , a former journalist for Central City Picture News, a former waitress at CC Jitters, and a psychology graduate student. Iris is also the daughter of Joe and the late Francine West, the sister of Wally West, the fiancée of the late Eddie Thawne, and the wife of Barry Allen. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Iris was born on June 24, 1989 to Joe and Francine West in Central City. When Iris was very young her mother nearly overdosed on drugs while Joe was at work. Francine had also left the oven on and subsequently ended up unresponsive on the couch, causing Iris to call the police. Before Joe and his partner were able to arrive on the scene, the stove caught fire and Iris was almost killed; as she was standing in front of the flames when Joe and his partner finally reached her, but the pair managed to get both Iris and her mother to safety. Iris repressed her memories of this event and Joe told Iris that her mother had died, but in reality Francine had left and Joe didn't want his daughter to grow up believing that she'd been abandoned. Instead, Joe told her stories of the mother he knew Iris deserved, not the mother Francine really was. However, both Iris and Joe were unaware that Francine was pregnant with another child - a son - when she left them for a life in Keystone City. At school Iris met Barry Allen and the two became best friends, though Barry secretly harbored a crush on Iris that he was never able to vocalize during their childhood. Another boy, Tony Woodward, also had a crush on her, and frequently bullied Barry. Ironically, Iris held those same feelings for Barry, and though the two never acknowledged their romantic interest in each other, both Iris and Barry's parents were well aware of the connection between their children. When Barry was 11 years old on March 18, 2000, his mother, Nora was murdered by the Reverse-Flash and his father, Henry, was convicted for her murder. Barry was subsequently adopted by Joe and went to live with him and Iris at their house. Early on, however, Barry repeatedly attempted to run away. One time when Joe went to get groceries, Iris allowed Barry to run away, refusing to tell her father exactly where to, despite him understanding the implication. After Barry entered a coma, Iris began visiting him frequently. She was said to talk a lot while at S.T.A.R. Labs. Just as Eddie was about to propose to Iris with a ring he got from his grandmother, they were attacked by the Reverse-Flash. Iris quickly recognized him as Nora Allen's murderer and pleaded with him not to hurt anyone else. The yellow speedster refused to answer and moved to kill her, but the arrival of Barry as The Flash prompted the Reverse-Flash to abduct Eddie and fled. The Flash assured a distressed Iris that he would find Eddie and as he sped off a surge of lighting passed from Barry to her. In that second she remembered that she only experienced it before when she touched Barry while he was still in a coma after the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator exploded. In that second she realized and still in shock that Barry was the The Flash. When Iris figured out that Barry is The Flash, she confronted him about his activity as The Flash, telling him that she was disappointed about why he lying to her about his secret identity, but nonetheless she decided to help Barry and join Team Flash. At the time, the team was searching for Grodd, a psychic gorilla. Iris told them about a news headline from two years prior that linked them to Grodd. They sent Barry, Joe, and Cisco Ramon down to the sewers, where Joe was captured by Grodd while the latter used his psychic abilities to knock Barry unconscious, forcing Cisco to take Barry and flee. Later however, Barry went back and overcame Grodd's psychic attacks and rescued Joe. Since then, Iris became become an active member of Team Flash, and occasionally used her contact with Barry to deal with some meta-human cases.